This invention relates generally to the art of fluid sprinkling and more particularly to the manufacture of snow. More specifically, the present invention relates to snow making equipment for manufacturing snow on ski slopes and the like.
The present invention pertains to improvements over the snow making towers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,822,825; 3,952,949; 5,004,151 and 5,823,427.
These former inventions for artificially producing snow consist of method and apparatus for making snow through the use of snow towers wherein water is supplied under pressure to a point of discharge above ground level and adjacent the top end of the snow gun where it is discharged through a first water nozzle into the ambient freezing atmosphere in the form of a spray. The spray is preferably a high velocity spray of discreet water particles, sometimes referred to as a fine water spray.
Air is also supplied independently under pressure to a second point of discharge at the top of the snow gun and there discharged through an orifice to form a jet of air which is directed into the aforementioned water spray thereby forming a plume of atomized or nucleated water. This atomized water forms seed crystals in a freezing atmosphere, and through the dwell time of the fall from the snow gun to the ground, forms snow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,151 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,427 illustrate the same principals but further increase the efficiency of the snow tower in colder sub-freezing ambient conditions. Additional water nozzles are positioned at the top of the tower to discharge more water in colder sub-freezing ambient conditions. This additional supply of water is independently valved for different ambient temperature conditions.
While these prior art systems are extremely efficient, it is always desirable to provide a more versatile snow making apparatus which is more energy efficient in a variety of ambient temperatures to produce a variety of air to water ratios which were previously unattainable.